100% Secure Payment
© 2025 Copyright:
BoutEssays. All rights reserved
Hypertension is a chronic disease that disproportionately affects those of a lower social economic status (SES) in the United States. There are several contributing factors, or risk factors, that can exacerbate the already biological disposition to the disease. Such risk factors are considered social disparities in the context of this review. The concept of how a social disparity can relate to health outcomes is not a new concept, but it is difficult one to prove. In this case, the argument will be that poverty leads to hypertension through the channels of disparities. These disparities include the wealth, status, education, and nutrition. This literature review intends to connect poverty and its manifestations to hypertension.
Get original essayWealth or social economic status is by far the strongest indicator of health. SES refers to the standing in the stratification system which is measured by education, occupation, employment, income, and wealth. The wealthier you are, more often than not, the healthier you are. This can be due to an array of factors, such as access to care, quality of care that you received, and the neighborhood that you live in Moreover, there is an apparent abundance of health disparities and risk factors that plague those of a lower SES such as higher rates of smoking, lower exercise, poorer diet, and excess weight (Pampel, 2010). Lastly, what is alluded to as social disparities of health are referred to as the manifestations of poverty such are neighborhood, lack of status, restricted education, and food insecurity. Hence, being categorized as a person of low SES (low income or poor) influences health by way of diet, health behaviors, and stress.
The lack of status or social position can give way to implicit bias which are induce chronic stress. Chronic stress can directly affect the heart by lessening the elasticity in large arterial vessels and creating higher blood pressure reactivity or hypertension. Moreover, stress can further lead to unhealthy behaviors as a means of coping. Pampel et. Al 2010 noted that smoking, overeating, and inactivity represent forms of pleasure and relaxation that help to regulate mood among the disadvantaged. Furthermore, racial stress from implicit bias increases cortisol levels from chronic stress. Race related vigilance comes are a result of racial/ethnic discrimination as a result of acute experiences with unfair treatment due to race (Hicken, 2014).
According to Morenoff “social contexts”, or neighborhoods, in which people live may substantially contribute to social disparities in hypertension. This is can be seen through the higher prevalence, lesser awareness, quality of treatment, and the lack of control of hypertension. (Morenoff, 2007). Higher levels of neighborhood affluence are related to lower odds of being hypertensive Household food insecurity was also associated with low educational attainment, low household income, lack of health insurance, and tobacco use. Fast-food restaurants are more prevalent in low-medium neighborhoods and become less prevalent in highest-wealth neighborhoods. As wealth increases, the number of bars decreases.
Food insecurity is a byproduct of poverty. Thus, food insecurity or a restricted access to healthy foods can be attributed to a high risk of hypertension. This is illustrated through studies that have looked at low economic neighborhoods and their access to healthy food options being lessened, hence the reason we see a higher intake of unhealthy foods. The availability of food stores can influence people’s foods choices. Morland and Wing looked at neighborhood characteristics and their associated with food stores (or food access). Specifically, the locations of food stores and food services places are associated with and the racial make-up of the neighborhood. There are over 3 times as many supermarkets in the wealthier neighborhoods compared to the lowest-wealth areas. Additionally, wealthier neighborhoods contain fewer small grocery and convenient stores compared to lowest-wealth neighborhoods. Morland and Wing likewise suggest that residents whom live in neighborhoods that suffer from food insecurity have a greater difficulty obtaining healthy food. This can be attributed to either have no private transportation to reach the stores with healthier food options at supermarkets. Consequently making it difficult for residents of low-wealth and predominantly black neighborhoods at a lesser advantage to achieve a healthy diet thus exacerbating their risk for hypertension.
The intake of unhealthy foods can be a byproduct of food insecurity. Adults living in food-insecure households report being unable to afford balanced meals, worrying about the adequacy of their food supply, running out of food, and cutting the size of their meals, or skipping meals (Seligman, 2009). Energy dense foods, including refined grains, added sugars, and added saturated/trans fats, tend to be devoid of nutritional quality and less expensive calorie-for-calorie than alternatives which are foods that are abundant in impoverished corner stores (Moreland, 2002). U.S. Adults living in food-insecure households consume fewer weekly serving of fruits, vegetables, and dairy and lower levels of micronutrients. These dietary patterns are linked to the development of chronic disease including hypertension. In adjusted analyses, adults from food-insecure households has a 21% higher risk of clinical hypertension than adults from food-secure households. The high sodium and low potassium content of highly processed foods, common in the diets of food-insecure adults, may increase risk of developing hypertension.
It has been suggested that those whom are in the lower SES have fewer opportunities to undergo regular preventative medical checkup and screenings. Fang 2014 proposes that among adults with hypertension, the condition was less likely to be diagnosed among persons without health insurance than among those with health insurance. In this study Among those who reported hypertension, about 20% reported access-to-care barriers and approximately 25% did not visit a doctor’s office for a routine checkup during the past year (Fang, 2014). The results of the study further showed that having primary care provider and health insurance were related to better blood pressure control. Having no insurance, having no personal doctor or health care provider, and the inability to visit a doctor because of the cost were significantly related to whether the participant had visited a doctor or healthcare provider for a routine check-up during the past year. The presence of hypertension was associated with higher medication expenditures. Fang 2014 also found that the use of antihypertensive medications was significantly lower among those with no insurance, no personal doctor or healthcare provider, and among those who reported cost barriers to visiting a doctor. Socioeconomic status including race/ethnicity, level of education, and income are all associated with the lack of health insurance. The lack of insurance can have an influence on whether or not to seek care they need for both disease prevention and management due to out of pockets expenses or other direct/indirect financial barriers.
Having a restriction in education is an indication of poverty and may indirectly prelude to bad health behaviors. “Odds of being hypertensive are 70 percent higher for those with less than 12 years of education compared to those with 16 or more years of education and 60 percent higher for those with 12-15 years of education compared to 16 or more years” (Morenoff, 2007). This can be due to the concept that people with lesser education having jobs that depletes opportunities for learning the harm of unhealthy behaviors thus lack the motivation to adopt healthy behaviors, a theory suggested by Pampel 2010. To add, affluent areas may have cultures that promote behavioral patterns like non-smoking that reduce levels of blood pressure (Morenoff, 2007). This fact is not apparent in neighborhoods with a predominantly low SES community. Increased exposure to advertising that promotes the enjoyment of smoking, drinking, and consuming unhealthy foods that allude to a life of more wealth plague impoverished neighborhoods. Restricted education can also influence a person health seeking or healthful behaviors. Comparing those with less than a high school degree to those with more than a college degree, college graduates are 3.6 times as likely to report that nutritional information from scientific experts is something that they value.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayAs stated before, finding a direct link from poverty to hypertension is not an easy one to prove. Instead, we must take a multifaceted approach and look at how social disparities or manifestations of poverty can lead to the exacerbation of risk factors related to hypertension, this is what this literature review attempts to illustrate.
Based on the movie named, “Wonder,” it can be said that there are many themes to be noticed and also discussed such as: The choice between becoming popular by lying about one’s life, over a few friends who accepts the truth about you. It was shown in a way Miranda told lies about her life to everyone she met at the camp thinking that this would make her popularity rise, she may have been popular and had many new friends, still it caused her to lose her best friend.
Get original essayHowever, it made her realize at the end that her friendship with Via is what matters the most; same goes to Jack Will who tries to fit in with Julian and his friends but also realized that being friends with Auggie is way more important. Being insecure with someone, especially with someone who is very close to you is not a good message to receive from the movie, according to what was told from the perspective of Miranda, she lied because she thought that people would love her if she told false stories about her. Even if some people may say that lying is not all that bad, it does not mean that there is no one getting hurt by it, but in this movie the possible outcome of deceiving people is actually the ones hurting them. The portrayal of this theme was clearly shown throughout the movie because it has been well explained with the help of showing the different perspectives of each character that helped viewers understand more. The second theme that can be seen in the movie is the differences between the many ways someone can look at the physical appearance of a person and who they are based on their inner beauty. Auggie was called a freak, experienced bullying and had received different criticisms from people that surrounded him, yet he did not let this get to him. In a positive outlook, it can be considered as him showing kindness by not fighting back. However, negatively, too much kindness can be abused and can bring him at a lower point where he will not stop letting bullies hurt him. Acceptance, forgiveness, and courage became his refuge to continue his life which can be considered as a positive attitude of his inner beauty. According to Henly (2017) “there’s no shame in being who you are, no matter what you look like”. Despite of his physical appearance, he still hoped that someday he will be known for something more than his unusual face.
Nevertheless, in a hopeful manner it would have been more powerful to see Auggie accept his own countenance if it was more elaborated in the movie. Instead he spent half of the film wearing an astronaut helmet out of shame. The love of the family that inspires their children to continue their lives no matter what can be deliberated as the third theme of the movie. It can be seen in the movie that the Pullman family had difficulties in Auggie’s growth and maturity. However, this did not become a hindrance to them or it did not become a reason for them to hate Auggie. On the other hand, this has served as one way to accept, and love him more. Although, Via envied her brother because she feels like her parents does not care and have time for her, she still chose to understand, comfort and love his brother despite of what she felt because she knows that her brother needs that more than she does, and doing so takes a lot of understanding and patience. In an outstanding quote, Jones (2017) states that you are going to feel like you are all alone, but you are not. In the film it can be witnessed what Auggie was feeling, the discomfort of being stared by strangers, but he was able to overcome this because he knows that there is that “family” that will never turn their backs on him. The love of the family was portrayed in the movie differently; they were a constant source of support, encouragement, and strength for Auggie despite him being a unique child. However, Wonder missed a chance to better represent the love of the family because in the entire movie it was like Auggie is the only one they love, even if they love and gave time to Via, it would have been better if they portrayed it in a balance way, wherein the love for both of them can be seen. The things that were previously mentioned are some adequate examples of what could be grasp from the movie, but the one theme that was emphasized in the film was about the kindness that shows regardless of all the experiences of each person.
At the end of the movie it can be seen that Mr. Tushman gave Auggie a special award because of being kind to others in spite of what others have said, on how they have treated and bullied Auggie. It takes a tough person to be as strong, brave and as kind as Auggie is, and while it seems unfair for a child so young to have faced numerous challenges, his courage to accept and be who he is has inspired the viewers. Auggie does not fight back against the mocks he encountered every day. He might have been treated as an outcast but he still chose to be kind because that is what he believes in. At the end of the film, the bullies apologized to him and because of his kind nature he has forgiven them. Kindness was evidently revealed in the movie little by little, from teachers, friends, and family on different point of views which brought the viewers into a realization that it takes so little kindness to make such a big difference. The depiction of the theme kindness was portrayed very well and clear throughout the movie, although it was not mentioned many times, it can be simultaneously understood that it is the message that the movie wants the viewers to learn at the end of it. Wonder left a lesson that everyone is preternatural in their own way. The core message of Wonder is, after all, “When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind” (Dyer, n. d. ).
Investigative Journalism assumes a key part in serving society by recognizing defilement, improving straightforwardness, and fortifying general feeling. Investigative Journalism of value and pertinence is significant in itself in what it can improve the situation common people and for society, ordinarily holding up truth to control, it can assume an instrumentalist part in re-empowering proficient news coverage. With regards to definition there is an astonishing absence of understanding among specialists and researchers in the field. Give us a chance to concede to the recommendation that investigative news-casting is the train of burrowing profound and uncovering confirmed certainties about bad behavior or about a matter of importance which are looked to be concealed or are generally out of reach to people in general, yet getting the actualities right just establishes the framework of investigative work which won't be worth in particular if the correspondent does not get the 'significance of occasions right.'
Get original essayInvestigative Journalism otherwise called 'Guard dog Journalism. Columnists are specialists in the field of investigative news scope and are locked in with significant and through research regularly to reveal assurances that some individual does not want to reveal. Investigative Journalist accumulate, analyze and decipher data without anyone else's input in view of their own drives, they work towards building up responsibility and limiting equity. The primary distinction between investigative writer and different writers is that different sorts of writers 'react' to events and communicated information, however investigative feature writers are related with 'dynamic' revealing where they reveal information that was being kept secret from individuals when all is said in done. Investigative news coverage basically implies the huge uncover, the emotional revealing of wrongdoing, wrongdoing, or affectation, by and large in a major daily paper selective, or TV narrative. It is a novel kind of announcing. It incorporates not just exchanging information but instead includes an all-around examine using influence driven approach with a particular ultimate objective to accomplish correct conclusions that are fair and untainted by the feelings or viewpoints of the investigative columnist. This makes investigative news-casting an essential and delicate apparatus in revealing debasement and infringement in people in general and private divisions since its origin. One of the principle objectives of this kind of reporting is to goad change. An investigative columnist may put in four years following a lawmaker and revealing a tax evasion wrongdoing to shield the general population from choosing a criminal. Another essential undertaking that is vital to the action of an investigative author is to make a game plan of individuals and dispersions that will give him/her with appropriate mystery information. The investigative component essayist has 'sources' or 'observers' in various works of life who give them key leads and data, they need to ensure that they set up remarkable relations with these sources so they can get fundamental data from them amidst examine.
Get-together check is another basic errand that investigative scholars perform, it is likely the base secure piece of the activity and also the most pivotal one. As most creations and channels don't wish to explore topics develop just in light of theory a proof fills in as an affirmation of the report and develops legitimacy. They gather check in different ways, including interviews, reports, shooting chronicles, clicking photographs and recording sounds.
The Center for Investigative Journalism is India's without first and non-advantage affiliation resolved to help and fortify all around and investigative news scope in India. It is enrolled as a trust with the Government of India and is headquartered in New Delhi. The fundamental mission of the CIJ is to give a point of convergence of brightness to the readiness of columnists, to progress acknowledged techniques of news-throwing, to raise the standard of essential offering an explanation to a high master level and to fabricate an arrangement of protect canine writers in India. The CIJ will give resources and new media frameworks to writer transversely finished India. They'll coordinate investigative news scope instructional courses, workshops, social affairs and data preparing camps to set up another time of Indian protect canine columnist. They'll be building association with news-throwing schools and foundations across finished India to shape a more grounded and broader facilitated exertion. The necessity for such a relationship in India has never been more conspicuous. While the Indian media no ifs ands or buts is free and dynamic, due date weights, grandstand pulls, contention, budgetary impediments, and from time to time real and security issues make it troublesome for a few, editorialists to delve into the causes and more broad ramifications of news events. More significantly there is no phase for investigative essayists in the country where they can share musings, aptitudes and learning and support each other remembering the true objective to redesign fundamental demand and cleaned system. The CIJ does not intend to supplant made by particular every day papers or TV news channels. We, nevertheless, expect to bring investigative columnists from different states together in bunches - wiping out conflict and propelling one of a kind reporting wanders with greater open excitement, focusing on underreported and unreported issues. Together, they hope to be the India's best investigative gathering.
Investigative Journalism thrives with opportunity of the press. In the nations, for example, U.S., U.K., Canada, Scandinavian nations, and Australia, investigative news coverage is more typical and allowed to thrive than in nations with stringent press restriction, in less law based nations, or those with instable administrations including Russia some Middle Eastern and Eastern European nations and countries in the far East and Africa investigative news-casting is fundamentally insufficient or may not exist by any means. The difficulties confronting investigative news coverage change by culture and are impacted by legislative issues, financing, time imperatives, the dedication of media proprietors and columnists and lawful limitations forced by governments. Investigative news-casting faces numerous legitimate political and monetary deterrents. In numerous nations the absence of laws that secure people in general additionally restricts investigative announcing, there are cases in which the tradition that must be adhered to does not ensure the protection of columnists and writers don't have 'the privilege to answer'. Columnists likewise fear being offended or having their notorieties discolored prompting numerous shying far from investigative announcing. With respect to boundaries lawmakers in these countries by and large view investigative reporting as an aggravation as opposed to a majority rule perfect. Subsequently, usually for government officials apply weight on investigative journalists which can incorporate blaming them for bad behavior. Subsequently, legislators smother investigative columnist by aligning themselves with distributers and editors to threaten investigative writers, it's no big surprise that since most media organizations rely upon government financing they toe the line embraced by the administration, this demonstrates monetary requirements can be central point that impacts investigative news coverage.
The absolute most regular difficulties to investigative detailing in both creating and created nations is incorporate absence of data, absence of access to archives and columnists' feelings of dread of being focused on or debilitated prompting wellbeing concerns. This makes crafted by investigative columnists extremely troublesome Also, when columnists are not allowed the privilege to keep their sources mystery their witnesses may turn out to be more hesitant to supply them with essential data subsequently ruining investigative correspondents' capacity to serve general society. Such deterrents are more conspicuous in less just nations. The administration even sponsor exclusive daily papers to the degree that if those daily papers distributed material that conflicted with the administration they would lose government appropriations or even lose their licenses by and large. Indeed, even private media which don't rely upon the legislature for appropriations, are still firmly controlled by the political forces.
A portion of the cases of genuine dangers standing up to investigative reporting are:
Upwards of 27 investigative columnists have been murdered in India in arrange savage requital for their work since 1992 as indicated by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) a non-advantage association situated in New York. The CPJ's latest report, depicts the stories of Jagendra Singh in Uttar Pradesh, Umesh Rajput in Chhattisgarh and Akshay Singh in Madhya Pradesh.
Advisor Jagendra Singh who kicked the compartment in the wake of being made plans to discharge professedly by the police in June 15 was looking into declarations that an adjacent minister was locked in with arrive grabs and an attack before he was shot dead in January 2011.
Umesh Rajput was investigating charges of restorative remissness and cases that the posterity of an organization official was fused into unlawful betting.
Looking at writer Akshay Singh was wearing out a story related with the US $1 billion Vyapam affirmations humiliation tests for able occupations continue running by the Madhya Pradesh government when he kicked the would all be able to of a sudden in July 2015.
The CPJ report similarly demonstrates how private network columnists stand up to more genuine risks than those from greater urban networks, and how India's way of life of exemption is leaving the country's media vulnerable against threats and strikes. The CPJ has made diverse proposition to the focal government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) analyzing the destruction of Akshay Singh and Umesh Rajput, the Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh state governments and the Indian media. These include: To Give sufficient resources and political help to improve the point of confinement of specialists to lead advantageous examinations and fundamentals relating to bad behaviors against writers, including experts, bloggers, and the people who convey news by means of online systems administration media; Promptly move the examination concerning the 2015 going of Jagendra Singh in Uttar Pradesh from state police to the CBI; and businesses should develop clear frameworks for staff and advisors to report risks, incitement, or strikes, and offer appropriate help.
Beating due dates is another strong test defying investigative writer in light of the fact that at times the business feels that the story is taking too long and in light of these weights, on occasion they are constrained to betray it a portion of the time while so close watching the light of day. In light of a poor economy, media houses don't use enough work compel so there is for all intents and purposes no specialization at this suggests an essayist finishing an investigative story ought to do some unique commitments in the newsroom. Still under the monetary strains, media houses can't anchor instruments that can empower an author to work effectively and beneficially. Nonattendance of witness security procedure in the country makes it harder for writers to get to information. They are constrained to cover the attributes of the witnesses which influence the story to marvelous. There is also the occasion of individual stake. A columnist can't complete an embroiling story on one of the backers with the media association or one of the financial specialists. This is in light of the fact that they would favor not to free the wage they get from these associations. The official insider certainties act also puts a cover on the limits of the investigative editorialist. A segment of this information is crucial to the nation yet once it transforms into an official riddle its saw as a risk to national security and any scholars who gets hands on to it risks confinement. Nature and criticalness of the story is another test. A story might give off an impression of being basic to the journalist yet may wind up being inconsequential to the more important masses.
Credibility of the media house and the columnist can in like manner impact how the dominant part take up an investigative story if it's uneven in its typical stories, paying little mind to whether it passes on a sensible story, it will be seen as witch pursuing. In conclusion on the troubles, known investigative journalists free their private life. They are seen particularly and people don't act ordinarily around them and start scanning for covered cameras. They moreover require security and are even struck and their rigging destroyed like the case with Betty Ndindi and Clifford Derrick who has since been removed. The troubles standing up to investigative news scope go from Capacity - this sort of work requires a lot of financing in light of the fact that it is resource thought anyway you find that in Kenya, couple of media houses will back an author to do the least demanding of stories where as in the made world, editorialists can even make up to three air trips in potentially over seven days in seven days while following a story and it's all on the media house. North more recognizes three principal parts of news scope; it's made by an editorialist and not the report. This is in light of the fact that the work put amid the time spent endeavoring to find truth be told what will draw out the real world and not the report. The subject of the story incorporates something of sensible essentialness to the group. Someone some place is trying to cover information from the overall public. Additionally, the true blue organization that fuses laws, constitution, and statutes and so on is greatly blocking, Kenya was considering another law endeavoring to stifle the media and moreover expected to give the priest for information ability to assault media houses. It is like manner decreases to enlist reporters as specialists or see their affiliation, it similarly uses feedback laws to misdirect columnists. There is in like manner the example of ethics media ethics in Kenya am awful to report is low and you will find an author giving up a better than average investigative story if the blameworthy party certifications to pay more than the business. Some even use it to blackmail the liable party.
On the other hand, investigative news-throwing can be to a great degree satisfying; to the news-throwing, the media house and to the overall population free to move around at will. To the editorialist, in the wake of doing this for a long time, he/she improves his capacity and know and can perceive incredible stories effortlessly and finish them steadily. Some extraordinary investigative stories are seen by worldwide bodies and editorialists are compensated strongly, a part of the prizes gushing down to the media house and the nation/country gets some credit also. To the greater system, it enhances awesome organization and freed talk giving the fundamental man a voice and asking for duty from our pioneers. Investigative news scope similarly hones individuals all in all on things proceeding around them that they would somehow never know i.e. the case of radical tracker. This is by virtue of there will constantly be that trusting that some individual is seeing and that is the piece of the media.
The challenges facing investigative detailing and essayist far surpasses the prizes and generally this is a direct result of institutional reasons (the governing body and the business) so they should recognize it as some other sort of news scope and accord it the respect it merits. With winning press reluctant to disseminate tricky stories in various Asian countries, the probability of developing better methodologies for presenting and dispersing stories remains huge. Instructor Ying of the University of Hong Kong proposed investigative detailing in the association of diversions that present gamers with circumstances reflecting authentic investigative stories. Such exercises could be taken up at school level through investment among media and science and development divisions. While challenges going up against investigative news, scope lie at various levels, from nonattendance of advantages for legitimate impediments, the structure of media conditions and circumstances of fear, the unfaltering change of new advancements and creating web invasion in Asia demonstrate a significant open entryway for elective stages for investigative detailing despite standard, winning press. With these possible results in find, the future may not look terrible for investigative news scope in Asia.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayThe possible destiny of investigative news-throwing in Asia must lie in crosscountry collaboration.
What is investment?
Get original essayInvestment according to wordweb.com is “The act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit”. This simply means that investment happens only when one expects to make profits.
Profit here can be in any form, it can be in cash, social status etc. investment can only be measure over a period of time. These profits help nations to solve economic problems like lack of infrastructure, poverty, poor education etc. Economics and technology interact and they are the determining factors in the design of the telecommunications network.
Optimal bandwidth capacity is determined depending on market conditions and managers’ desire to have the flexibility in the decision making in response to changing market, regulatory and technology conditions. When these real options are exercised the management deploys the new systems and adopts a pricing strategy for the company under regulatory and market constraints.
Telecommunications managers need to make strategic decisions in an increasingly volatile environment where permanent investment in new technologies has become crucial for growth and satisfaction of customer demand. The factors which determine presently the investment decision process in the telecommunications industry are entirely different from the ones the industry was used to consider during the early days of regulation and/or state control.
What is telecommunication?
Telecommunication according to wordweb.com are “systems used in transmitting messages over a distance electronically”. This include radio transmission media, etc.
What is an industry?
Industry according to wordweb.com is “the organized action of making goods and services for sale”. Industry in this context means the combination of many companies dealing on a particular niche of products or services. In this report we will be dealing mainly on the telecommunication industry.
This aim of this report is to ascertain the investment value of telecommunication companies as a whole in order to decide the appropriate path to take in investing in them.
1. Performance Measures:
For quality investment decisions to be made in any chosen field, accurate and timely performance measures should be made available, and made available to the right people, e.g. potential investors. Performance is the ability of an organization to gain and manage resources in several ways to develop competitive advantage.
The performance measures should be an accurate measure of the performance of the industry at a given time range. These measures are then used as a tool for indicating the trends or success/failure patterns, which would aid in making financial decisions.
2. Availability of Power:
The operators’ cost structure is equally unfavorable and a major drawback in the quest to increase capital expenditure in the country. A key component of telecoms infrastructure is the Base Transceiver Station (BTS), which essentially connects mobile phones to the network.
However, it is important for the government to show its commitment to the blueprint of achieving significant growth in the generation and distribution of electricity across the country.
True commitment and observed improvements in the power sector should serve as stimulus for increased investments in the Nigerian economy.
Among those who think that it would be difficult for operators to make more investments without a more conducive environment than obtainable at the moment expensive than in other African markets due to fuel costs. It is estimated that Nigerian operators spend about N10bn a year to power their base stations. Arguably, there is no sector in Nigeria that is not suffering from an epileptic power supply.
The issue has been reoccurring for years and it seems we are not making any headway. Without power, there is little or no advancement that can happen in the telecom sector. Power generation must be created to add to the existing power we have. Telecom strive on power and until there is a solution to power we might never have quality service. This is an area the new board can work on by creating new channels of power generation for telecoms.
The envisaged cost savings should be reallocated to improvement and deployment of infrastructure for more efficient service delivery to the customers.
About 15% of all BTS in the country are connected to the power-grid, which leaves operators dependent on fuel-powered sites. Fuel costs associated to operating BTS in the country account for about 60% of operators’ network costs. To put it in perspective, network costs in Nigeria are about two to three times more
3. Vandalism of Telecom Facilities:
Apart from the financial difficulties, the current state of security for telecom infrastructure is not encouraging for any potential investor. Every savvy rational investor considers the safety of its assets when making an investment decision.
Vandalism on Telecom infrastructure occasionally occurs in error during excavation, but for the most part is perpetrated through acts of sabotage and theft of equipment. These acts of vandalism are common in rural areas of the country, which are characterized by high poverty and unemployment rates. The low standard of living and lack of opportunity leads youth to revert to such actions to extort telecom operators.
In 2013, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) noted that it had recorded about 1200 fiber cuts in just a few months.
Unknown to most Nigerians, vandalism of telecoms infrastructure is a major problem. About 2% to 3% of Nigeria’s BTS are shut down at any point in time due to vandalism, resulting in a loss of about $50m to $100m every year.
On the other hand, telecommunication firms have high investment value than banks because telecommunication is not a deposit organization and as such is not required to maintain high liquidity, which means that if bank want to maintain optimum profitability, they will invest all their funds in long-Term assets. The actions of vandals create significant expenses for operators in terms of repair and replacement costs, lost revenue, and also “appeasement” fees
In conclusion, It depicts that the more fluid an organization is the less it’s profitability. So, telecommunication has more return on investment, only the investor who is liquidity conscious will invest in bank. Based on the result from the analysis, the researcher made the following recommendations.
4. LACK OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORT:
In recent times, telecom operators have been attacked by regulators or government through fines and unregulated tax charges. This does not provide the incentivizing platform needed for investors to commit more funds to capital expenditure.
The story of the telecoms sector will mirror that of the Nigerian petroleum industry if a proper regulatory and fiscal structure is not designed and enforced by relevant stakeholders. Telecom companies like MTN in previous times have been subjected to some harsh government policies and regulations that has in one way or the other hindered their activities.
If such issues aren’t addressed in the future, we might find ourselves in an even more-stiffer positions concerning the telecom industry.
5. LACK OF PROTECTION OF THE TELECOM INFRACTURE:
Protection of telecommunication infrastructure in the country, especially in remote areas, is a paramount need for operators. There have been recent talks of the potential passage of a bill by lawmakers, which seeks to give telecommunication infrastructure the status and legal protection of Critical National Infrastructure as well as other critical infrastructure such as power.
6. STIFF COMPETITION BETWEEN TELECOM COMPANIES IN THE INDUSTRY:
Delays in investment are also encouraged by market uncertainty due to the current antagonistic environment between operators, regulators and government. However, industry experts are not looking at the situation as an open and close case of throwing in more money. Some believe that certain level of transparency and support must come from government to guarantee the operators that such investments would not end in futility.
Investors in the Nigerian economy are not new to thesis uncertainties, in the petroleum sector about $100bn worth of investments is being delayed due to the delayed passage of Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) according to the international oil companies (IOCs). Such uncertainty in the telecoms sector can have a knock-on effect for the consumer.
The US in the early mid 1970s was a perfect example of what market uncertainty can do. According to Jerry Hausman, a professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), regulatory issues delayed the introduction of cellular telephones in the United States for 7 to 10 years. The delay purportedly cost consumers about $31- $50bn (1994 dollars) each year.
The bill is a step in the right direction; however a delay in the passage will endanger the $25bn investment in the ICT industry as well as future investments will be endangered for the foreseeable future. It is also important to acknowledge that passage of the bill is not sufficient; awareness and enforcement are the true determinants of the effectiveness of the bill.
7. Insufficient Telecom Masts:
Telecom companies should endeavor to build more telecom masts so as to eradicate black spots from Nigeria. We should be able to receive and call without any hindrance. Telecom companies can decide to share masts so as to save cost.
These are persistent issues among others that have lingered for years. Telecom are battling with these problems and this has hindered their improvement in service. No business would thrive in an environment where resources that could have been used to do systems upgrades are diverted to pay for repairs and debts.
The new NCC board should craft out parameters to guide the performance and challenges of the sector. This is the only way they can be aware of the current state of the sector. It just happens that there are multiple regulations to stifle the telecommunication companies.
Some of this regulations should be revisited and new policies created to address the current problems of the sector. Just as the NCC should work on some of this things, telecom companies should look out for alleviant measures to better their services.
NCC should ensure the active enforcement of deactivation of unregistered subscribers. This way poor service quality would be curtailed. The NCC should create channels and deploy base stations, masts and fibre optic cables to mobile operators to combat mobile black spots.
The challenge of poor quality of service in Nigeria’s telecoms industry is not impossible to surmount. All that is needed is cooperation among all stakeholders to come together and solve the various problems.
The telecom industry has many challenges, which reduce the investment decisions made by potential investors in the industry, but there are approaches and solutions which will alleviate these problems;
1. Policy Reforms:
Previous changes (e.g. the Nigerian Communications Act 2003) are outdated as they focus on how voice calls are regulated and not on matters that relate to the new technological era. The focus today should cover competition in the sector, the market and other services the telecom sector is linked closely to such as finance, technology and media services.
The current government has shown its commitments in creating an enabling environment for the private sector to contribute innovative solutions to allow consumers to benefit from Information Communication Technology (ICT) advancements. This will in turn bring about efficiency and productivity in the telecom sector and eventually enhance economic growth.
To solve the issue of artificial low prices, a regulated minimum price level has to be put in place by the government and regulators. Big and small telecom operators can compete on the quality of the network and customer services they provide. The sector’s regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), should ensure that the quality of service provided by telecom operators are enhanced through an emphasis on the strength of their signals and the quality of their data services. Customers can also play a part in regulating prices by valuing and promoting services that offer the best customer experience and not those that offer only the cheapest price.
2. Public Enlightenment:
A comprehensive plan is needed to communicate to Nigerian residents the need to protect all critical infrastructures and the penalty for violating the law in the country.
3. Government Reforms:
A well-defined and legally backed fiscal and regulatory framework is needed to eliminate uncertainty about the telecom companies’ operations and potential investment. There is need for a uniform tax and levy framework across the nation which has a legal backing. This would protect the operators from exploitative charges as well as the creation of unbudgeted new levies/taxes. Ultimately, a properly designed tax and levy framework will increase the positive perception of due process in the industry.
Consequently, investor confidence in the environment will be improved which will in turn increase the probability of more capital investment in the industry.
4. Diversification of the Industry:
To ensure long-term growth and sustainability there is a need to improve on general business processes/practices to create new revenue streams, recreate existing products, diversify into new areas for which the resources and capabilities are available and establish a minimum market price.
This will result in increased investors’ confidence and will enable operators to serve multinationals including Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) that are dependent on their internet services (better quality service). The sector needs to be considered important to Nigeria’s economic development as it provides the infrastructural backbone for new digital economy that drives socioeconomic development across all sectors in the economy (ecommerce, Mobile banking).
Investments in operating telecom infrastructure are essential for economic growth as proper infrastructure leads to efficient operations of the sectors involved in the economy.
Sectors for telecommunication industry to diversify:
1. Mobile money:
Before the turn of the 21st century, most money transfers from the urban or suburban areas to the rural areas was largely manual. Transferors generally used messengers to physically deliver cash to recipients in the rural areas with the hope of 'privacy and security of the transaction' – a hope that was often dashed. Enter the 21st century and there was an explosion of bank branches and consequent surge of new account holders – a scenario that did not overcome this challenge.
In conjunction with the banks, Telco are able to provide a solution that allows a user execute a money transfer using a personal identification number and secured text message. At the end of the text message is the recipient who can reach out to the corresponding bank to get the transferred money.
Whilst the fee earned from this transaction represents increased income in the bank's primary business, the fee earned by the Telcos represent income from a new line of business.
2. Insurance services:
Telecommunication companies now plans to provide health and life insurance – a largely untapped market. Whilst some blame the state of the insurance sector on the economy, perhaps telecommunication companies are thinking differently. Who sold the insurance product to the customer? How was the product sold? Given 21st century and the profile of this customer (information which they have privy to), was there a better way to sell the product? Have insurance companies actually reached out to all potential customers (again, an asset which the telecommunication companies have)? Telecommunication companies are capable of profiling the customers and selling the appropriate insurance product to them. In this regard, telecommunication companies act as insurance agents – collecting premiums via deduction of airtime and knocking off traditional insurance brokers. Again, whilst the premiums earned represent increased income in the insurance company's primary business, the commission earned by the telecommunication industry represent income from a new line of business.
3. Music and video marketing:
In Nigeria, artistes in the music and movie industry are constantly plagued with the nefarious activities of pirates. Creative works are illegally produced/duplicated and sold to customers vide compact discs – a situation that has eroded the earning potential of these artistes.
With the presence of the internet and rise in smartphone usage, artistes are able to knock-off these pirates by collaborating with the telecommunication companies to securely sell their music and video works to customers. To the Telco's this arrangement is a double-edged sword – enables the artistes fight piracy and compete for a share of income earned by hitherto formal marketers of the music and video works.
Globally, the story is not different, international telecommunication companies are giving the traditional players in various industries a run for their money. Based on the case studies highlighted above International telecommunication companies are now competing with:
• Leaders in the International Money Transfer space (e.g. Western Union) for market share. In this regard, relatives in the developed countries are able to send money home using the mobile money platforms of these telecommunication companies.
• Major Insurance marketers who were once responsible for sourcing and selling insurance products to customers.
• Established online distribution platforms (e.g. iTunes etc.) who have since dislodged the traditional music and content sales outlets.
Whilst the potentials for developing new services are endless, telecommunication companies must brace themselves for a probable examination by regulatory agencies. In this regard, there would be a need to continually engage relevant agencies in each industry to obtain clear guidance around a new service opportunity to ensure certainty when the dividends begin to roll in.
Conversely, regulatory agencies must not stifle the creativity of telecommunication companies. They must seek to understand the model of each business opportunity and to the extent that the telecommunication have done nothing more than automate previous manual processes (which was not subject to regulation), the relevant agencies must ensure consistent application of rules.
In conclusion, we have been able to see some factors affecting investment decision making in the telecommunication industry. Those factors though having serious consequences, have simple solutions, some which may not be so simple in the implementation.
In recent times, the telecommunication companies still operating as traditional telecommunication companies, has recorded a decrease in the number of subscribers and in revenue. These are factors that every wise investor would look out for before laying out money to invest in the industry.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayThe money now belongs to the innovative company or group of telecommunication companies who become diverse in operation and fluid in decision making and organization.
Women may be astute savers, but they are generally not active investors of the money they save. Financially and socially dependent on their husbands, they often leave all investment decisions to their spouses. They often shy away from options such as equities, and don’t often make an effort to understand equity market trends, and consider share market investments very volatile in nature, hence risky.
Get original essayWith greater financial literacy however, women, at least in metropolitan cities are moving beyond the traditional savings options of fixed deposits, PPF, post office savings etc. to insurance, mutual funds, bonds, equities and even real estate.
Most women investors prefer to invest in insurance products because the premiums are small and they prefer post office savings mainly so they can withdraw small amounts at times of need. Further women differ from men in their choice of the class of assets, they want to invest in. They usually consider their money safe in physical and financial assets. Of late, a women investor’s preference appears to have shifted from equity to debt capital. Women’s investment pattern also varies with age and demographics – younger, city bred women appear to be more informed about the choices available to them than their rural counterparts.
Kuntal Agrawal (1993) has noted that husbands make crucial financial decisions about family income, savings and investment, irrespective of the wives’ income, education and profession.
Pandey Ranjana (2000) in their study discovered that a majority of the woman are not engaged in their families’ savings and credit decisions.
Kulwant Sing (2004) found that women holding senior level positions did however make their investment decisions on their own. For some strange reason, the researcher also found that women in public sector were consulted more often by their husbands on investment-related matters than women employed in the private sector.
Other researchers have found a higher level of awareness among working women about the types of investment options available to them. She found that her sample of working women are motivated in their decisions by factors such as capital appreciation, safety, liquidity, speculation, tax savings etc.
However even this section of women preferred simple and conventional trading procedures while investing their money. Neelambika Pattanshetti (2012) found women’s savings and investment activities are largely dependent on their social and economic status. The researcher found that short-term training courses does help in building their confidence and motivates them to make better investment-related decisions.
The training could cover a careful study of the industry, the position of the company, she wants to invest in, and the company’s present and future prospects. A woman investor must know how to read and interpret a company’s financial results.
Venkataraman (2004) concluded that the psychology of women investors is also hugely different from men. Women are drawn to the idea of earning maximum returns, i.e. are often more ambitious than men, and many use saving from their secret accounts to invest in gold, jewelries or silk saris, without their husband’s knowledge. Sure women also prefer to invest in post office schemes.
Interestingly, Archana Sinha (2004) discovered through her research that women tend to spend almost 90% of their income on their family and only 10% on their personal requirements. Corroborating this finding, Rajkamal and Ruchi Jain (2005) found that contrary to belief, working women tend to spend less on their own needs than on family needs compared to non-working women.
Indian women’s investment decisions are largely governed by their financial goals, employment status, age, time horizon and most importantly risk appetite. Amol Agrawal (2010) found that women, generally do not have the skills to make gainful investment decisions compared to their male counterparts.
Women investors need to develop logic, rationality and emotional stability as investors, or the result could be stress, anxiety and financial distress. They have to accept the fact that no investment is free of all risk. The key for surviving the downturn is to identify the risk, assess it and then make an investment decision.
Market-linked investments are cyclic in nature. A fear of the downward movement in the share price should not lead to acute anxiety and hamper the woman investor’s decision-making process. Above all, they need to develop patience, and control over their emotions.
Women investors would do well to remember that when share prices bottom out, it’s usually for a short duration. As soon as the prices begin to rise again, she should sell and cut her losses. Eventually, she must develop the courage to take a few chances and the confidence to stand by her decisions with a sense of responsibility. Developing this kind of an attitude would protect her against the rough and tumble of the capital market.
There are many advantages of personal financial planning. A few are enumerated below:
A stress-free life, and freedom from frequent financial worries
The financial planning can be a simple, six-step procedure if you are able to:
Correctly assess your current financial situation
This would need a careful consideration of your present-day family income, savings, living expenses, and debts. Draw up a list of your current asset and debt balances to get a sense of where you stand, before you start your financial planning activities.
Chalk out all your major financial goals for the future
This could be a daughter’s wedding, child’s education etc. The purpose of this exercise is also to learn to differentiate between essential and luxury spends. There is a huge difference between needs and wants. Further, be specific about what targets you want to achieve and when.
For example, instead of wishing a “steady retirement income” or wanting your children to attend "good" schools, you need to quantify what "steady" and "good" mean to you, so you will know when you cross that goal post.
Identify alternative financial resources to tap into during an emergency
This is crucial for a secure future. Although several factors will influence the easy availability of alternate resources, it’s important to do a reality check. Considering all possible alternatives will help your make better decisions. Your final decision would also depend upon your current life situation, personal values, and your present-day financial condition. All these factors will impact your final decision.
Draw up a water-tight financial action plan
Before taking step, one must re-assess all the long and short terms plans. Set measurable goals. Your priority will automatically come into focus, and the right plan will emerge.
Keep reviewing and tweaking this plan as per your changing life conditions
Financial planning is a dynamic process. You will regularly need to take stock and re-examine your financial decisions. Changing personal, social, and economic factors all change, and so should your financial planning.
As mentioned earlier, women investors tend to restrict their choices of investment assets. The restrictions arise from their past conditioning and life’s circumstances. Identifying these restrictions will affect improve their investment outlook and give them more confidence.
Liquidity is often a prime concern to women. They need the assurance of knowing that an asset class can be sold easily, during emergency and still fetch a good price. They should be informed about ways and means of disposing off their assets at short notice. Armed with this vital piece of information, they can be encouraged to allocate a certain, fixed portion of their investment portfolio to liquid assets.
Women’s unique investment needs also vary with age. Retirement, housing and children’s education, as well as several other factors would change their priorities and demand corresponding adjustments in their investment portfolio. Most women investors, like their male counterparts, have their own investing styles: some have a bigger risk-appetite than others, and could be easily lured into make speculative investments. Others prefer the safety net of bank deposits, not realizing that the value of this portfolio is likely to erode with inflation.
The investing style varies in accordance with age, personality, personal experience, and financial circumstances to cite a few. For instance, a woman approaching retirement, who may have very few financial responsibilities, may still be risk-averse, if she has already faced many ups and downs of life, and make a conservative investor. This is what makes every investor – man or woman – unique in his/her investment style.
Most women investors would fall somewhere in between these two extremes, and could be persuaded to take a calculated amount of risk, with the expectation that they’ll be rewarded with higher returns, over a period of time.
The idea behind developing good financial planning habits such as saving, budgeting, investing and regularly reviewing finances by women early in their life is to prepare them to meet life’s unforeseen, unfortunate events and be able to handle emergencies. All said and done, financial planning is a common sense approach to managing finances to meet life’s goals. Done wisely, it can secure someone’s future.
Creating more opportunities for acquiring various forms of financial assets is an important pre-requisite for raising the saving rate of a country. This can easily be done by expanding the existing banking facilities, and providing attractive rates of interest.
Price stability also induces higher savings. This can happen only when inflation is kept in check. The two most popular instruments of saving popular among are provident fund and life insurance. Both these instruments can be made more attractive to encourage savings.
Life is a continuous journey which never ends. It is not a bed of roses but it is a bed of thrones. It is full of hardships and difficulties. We have to face calamities and catastrophes at every step. It is often said that life is full of challenges and struggles. In order to make our lives great and comfortable, we should make strenuous efforts.
Life is incomplete without any destination. In our life, at a specific point, we think that this is our destiny and there are no more efforts to do. But, actually, this is not our destiny. It is not much easy to find destination. The journey to success continues. We have to do more and more struggle to achieve our goal. Our goal or destination strengthens and emboldens us.
As I am moving on with my life and doing things that must be done, I am finding that more and more people are tuning into what I have to say and how I am living my life. I opened my eyes in a small village. When I was 2 years old, my father died with Hepatitis. That was all my mother’s struggles and efforts that she educated us. I carry on my studies in a primary school of that village. As you know that disappointments have been the source of the greatest genius, inventions, and successes.
Disappointments and tragedies force us to think, look, listen and make radical changes in our lives. Some of the disappointments in my life have made me realize the extent of strength I had within me that I never knew of. It’s the nature’s way of teaching us lessons necessary for us at the particular moment. Allah has made us in such a way that we must move on in our life. All the moments in our life good or bad comes to teach us things that we have to learn at that moment. Each of us is here to find the dreams and to achieve our destination. That’s why I struggled hard to find destination. I passed my Matriculation with First division in that primary school. But this was not my destination. My destination was something else, for which I would have to wrestle more and more. I got admission in intermediate pre-engineering. There in college, I studied upon scholarship. My family supports and my mother’s prayers were always with me. I learned the worth of hard work and patience. I passed my intermediate with first division. I realized that when we are sure that we are on the right road, there is no need to plan our journey too far ahead.so, with that courage and believe in myself I passed UET entry test and got admission electrical engineering in UET KSK. At the start of my university, I got nervous and scared when I have to give presentations. But as time passed I overcome my fear, and I make myself a powerful individual. I feel that I have no need to burden myself with fears and doubts as to the obstacles that may bar my progress.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essaySometimes, things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful and unfair at first, in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you have never realized your potential, strength, and willpower.
"I want to be invisible...I paint my face and travel at night." Ralph Reed, as quoted in The Virginian Pilot and Ledger Star, 11/9/91
Get original essayAttaining "invisibility," or privacy from the glaring eye of the public, remains a distinct desire of modern society. This goal has spawned the creation of "high-tech" home security systems, pseudonyms for anyone from famous authors to the average person purchasing "indecent" material off the Internet, and safeguards on computers' hard drives. Moreover, the book market has been inundated by works that teach how to protect personal information from the prying eyes of telemarketers, con artists, or vengeful former lovers. J.J. Luna, author of How to Be Invisible, a guide to "protecting you assets, your identity, and your life," aptly describes the situation: "Privacy is now poised to become the most sought-after luxury of the twenty-first century" (Luna 1). But why do people go to such great lengths to keep their public and private lives separate? Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part One seems to offer the answer. Henry IV presents us with a rich medley of characters who, not surprisingly, have "erotic, fiscal" and "self-deceptive" "impulses" (Steiner) that drive their private actions. However, as the play's political situation becomes increasingly convoluted, the characters' private desires become intertwined with politics and "matters of state" (Steiner). The Prince of Wales, Hal, clearly shows the positive impact of politics on one's private life; when the lazy and immature Hal is thrown into war, he rises to the occasion and proves himself honorable. His friend, Sir John Falstaff, however, fails to understand the larger significance of the war and instead of fighting valiantly, he chooses to remain dominated by his private fiscal desires. It is thus through politics, through the meshing of public and private life, that the characters of Henry IV are forced to reevaluate their private "impulses" in light of their public consequences; successful political action, then, depends on balancing private desires with political needs.
Erotic impulses constitute our most private desires. It thus comes as no surprise that popular celebrities often try to hide their relationships from the press. Moreover, when President Bill Clinton's own private life was thrust into the limelight, he was also loath to dole out details of his affair with Monica Lewinsky and ended up perjuring himself. Similarly, the warriors of Henry IV conclude that erotic impulses have no place in political dealings and they consequently try to suppress their wives' desires. However, Shakespeare clearly suggests that there is a "right" way and a "wrong" way to do this. Lord Mortimer listens carefully to his wife's Welsh pleas and to Owen Glendower's translation. He assures her that, "I understand thy kisses, and thou mine / And that's a feeling disputation [dialogue by the feelings]" (3.1.204-205). He tells her that although she cannot "be a soldier too" (3.1.193), she can soon join Glendower on his march to battle.
In sharp contrast to Mortimer's loving speech to his wife and attempts to understand her frustrations, Harry Percy or Hotspur is rude and impatient with his wife. Initially, Lady Percy asks Hotspur very nicely why he has been snubbing her:
For what offense have I this fortnight been
A banished woman from my Harry's bed?
Tell me, sweet lord, what is't that takes from thee
Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep? (2.3.39-42)
In this speech, Lady Percy shows genuine concern for her husband and his strange behavior. She is worried about his developing insomnia and preoccupation over battle at the expense of their marriage. However, instead of allaying her concern, Hotspur merely ignores her pleas and demands that his horse be brought to him. By obsessing over the war and overly suppressing his natural erotic impulses, Hotspur is not only spurning his wife, but is also setting himself up for a deafening political defeat.
In our money-driven society, many people allow their fiscal desires to dominate their lives. In addition to the standard "workaholic," there are people who are willing to risk their safety or even their lives for a financial reward. There have been many cases of wives or husbands murdering their spouses to collect their life insurance policies. Moreover, fiscal desires provide the basis for some strange and disturbing television shows and movies. One such television show, Fear Factor, features people who willingly eat insects, jump out of airplanes, and crawl through sewage drains to reap some financial reward. On a more serious note, a recent movie, The Glass House, depicts an egocentric business mogul who murders his best friend so that he can have custody of his friend's children and of their four million dollar inheritance. The old saying, "You can't buy happiness" appears to be lost on some of these people.
In Henry IV, Falstaff's private life is consumed by financial desires; he is hedonist to the core who needs extensive funds to buy an "intolerable deal of sack [wine]" (2.4.543). At the play's opening, Falstaff is just an isolated drunk whose actions have no real significance on the larger world. However, when Hal puts him in charge of a band of foot soldiers, he is given the opportunity to change. And Falstaff does consider the merits and pitfalls of acting honorably:
Honor pricks [spurs] me on. Yes, but how if honor prick me off [kills me] when I come on? How then? Can honor set to a [replace a lost] leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honor hath no skill in surgery then? No. What is honor? A word. What is in that word honor? What is that honor? Air a trim [fine] reckoning! Who hath it? He that died a Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. 'Tis insensible then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction [slander] will not suffer [allow] it. Therefore I'll none of it. (5.1.129-140)
Instead of allowing his feelings of public duty to penetrate his private fiscal impulses, Falstaff selfishly concludes that since honor is of no use to the living man, he will not die trying to attain it. He ends his speech by again linking honor with death and calling honor "a mere scutcheon" (52E1.140-141), which is a painted decoration for the coffins of the dead.
Additionally, Falstaff goes beyond merely attacking the abstract idea of honor; he undermines its principles to achieve his fiscal goals. We are first introduced to him as a somewhat ruthless and covetous man who jumps at the opportunity to steal money from innocent travelers. Moreover, he insists that if Hal does not join him on this little venture, then Hal has "neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee, nor thou cam'st not of the blood royal if thou darest not stand for [rob someone of] ten shillings" (1.2.143-145). Falstaff's dishonorable deeds to further his own fiscal desires at the expense of the royal family do not stop there, however. When Hal puts him in charge of a brigade of foot soldiers, Falstaff impresses only the wealthiest, "toasts-and-butter" (4.2.21) men who can afford to pay their way out of service. While Falstaff acknowledges that he has "misused the King's press [power of conscription] damnably" (4.2.12-13), he is delighted to have received, "in exchange of a hundred and fifty soldiers, three hundred and odd pounds" (4.2.13-14). Falstaff's actions in this situation are unique in that they could have a direct effect on the war and, by extension, on the English realm. By choosing a bunch of "dishonorable" (4.2.31) and "discarded unjust serving-men" (4.2.28) to be his soldiers, Falstaff is single-handedly weakening the English forces. However, Falstaff does not consider the larger consequences of his selfish actions; he merely marvels at his own cleverness and ability to fulfill his private fiscal desires at the expense of the English public.
With Owen Glendower, Shakespeare presents somewhat of a "fiscal" foil for Falstaff; Glendower recognizes the significance of the war and consequently reevaluates his own fiscal impulses in light of their political ramifications. Glendower, the leader of Wales, is a wise and powerful warrior who is accustomed to getting his way and not tolerating insolence. However, when the fiery Hotspur insists that his share of the land under the rebels' proposed land division "in quantity equals not one of yours" (3.1.96), Glendower agrees that Hotspur may straighten out the Trent River so that his holdings include a fertile valley: "Come, you shall have Trent turned [straightened]" (3.1.135). Glendower gives in to Hotspur at his own fiscal expense because he recognizes the potentially disastrous results that internal division among the rebels could have on their war effort.
Several characters in Henry IV also exhibit self-deceptive impulses that hinder their political action. People often act in a self-deceptive manner because they want to hide from reality and feel better about themselves. In Jane Austen's Emma, the protagonist, Emma Woodhouse, is the perfect example of self-deception. Emma is the town matchmaker, yet she has convinced herself that she does not want a spouse and is content to be single. It is only after Emma is able to get past her self-deceptive barriers that she can recognize, and act on, her love for Robert Knightley. Similarly, alcoholics' and drug-abusers' refusal to admit that they have a problem often slows down the process of recovery.
At the play's beginning, Prince Hal appears to be living in self-deception. He spends his days frolicking in various taverns and hatching immature plots to embarrass Falstaff. We initially see Hal as being extremely egocentric; he does not seem to care that his callow behavior is disgracing the royal family. In fact, Hal mocks the young warrior, Hotspur, whom his father most admires: "I am not yet of Percy's mind, the Hotspur of the North: he that kills me some six or seven Scots at a breakfast, washes his hands, and says to his wife, 'Fie upon this quiet life! I want work'" (2.4.112-116). However, as testament for Hal's self-deception about his own warrior aspirations, we see him embody Hotspur's fighting spirit as he enters the battle. Sir Richard Vernon, a relative of the Percys, describes the approaching Hal as follows:
I saw young Harry with his beaver [helmet] on,
His cushes [thigh armor] on his thighs, gallantly armed,
Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat
As if an angel dropped down from the clouds
To turn and wind [wheel about] a fiery Pegasus
And witch the world with noble horsemanship. (4.1.103-109)
Hal goes on to fight valiantly in the war and ultimately reject the callow pursuits of his youth when he meets Falstaff on the battlefield. When the "idle" (5.3.39) Falstaff, too concerned for his own well-being to draw his sword and fight for his country, refuses to lend Hal his sword, Hal furiously remarks: "What, is it a time to jest and dally now?" (5.4.55). With this indignant retort, Hal recognizes Falstaff's pathetic rejection of his public duty and realizes his own desire to fight for his country and father.
While Hal is able to shake off his self-deception and fight bravely, other characters are not as lucky. Hal enters a war in which his side has a clear military advantage; although Douglas and Hotspur do fight bravely, their self-deceptive impulses lead them to wage a war which they have little chance of winning. Additionally, Douglas and Hotspur do not consider the larger effect that their personal military failure could have on the other rebels. Hotspur's self-deception can be traced back to the play's beginning, when he receives a letter from a noble who refuses to join Hotspur's forces because "the purpose you undertake is dangerous, the friends you have named uncertain, the time itself unsorted [unsuitable], and your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so great an opposition" (2.3.10-14). Instead of seriously considering this accurate analysis of his situation, Hotspur merely scoffs at the "lack-brain" (2.3.16) noble and reassures himself that his plan is fool-proof: "By the Lord, our plot is a good plot as ever was laid; our friends true and constant: a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation; an excellent plot, very good friends" (2.3.16-19). However, when Hotspur learns that his father is ill and that his father's forces will not fight in the war, he begins to clearly see the true weakness of his side: "This sickness doth infect / The very lifeblood of our enterprise" (4.12E27-28). But his self-deception immediately returns and he quickly notes that by winning the war without his father's army, the small band of rebels will enjoy greater "opinion [prestige]" (4.1.76). This self-deception ultimately culminates when Hotspur, faced with the fiery Hal, notes that Hal lacks his military status and implies that this battle will be the "end" (5.42E68) of Hal: " [I] would [wish] to God / Thy name in arms were now as great as mine!" (5.4.68-69). It thus comes as no surprise, after witnessing Hal's public failures when he was dominated by self-deception, that Hotspur and his over-confident ally Douglas are decisively defeated in the war.
While Henry IV is clearly chock-full of characters who miserably fail to balance their private impulses with their political needs, King Henry IV himself does understand political mechanics. Thoroughly disappointed with his son's behavior, he warns Hal that by being such a public figure, "So common-hackneyed in the eyes of men / So stale and cheap to vulgar company" (3.2.40-41), he is losing the respect and mysterious air that is essential to a successful king. Moreover, he compares Hal's frivolous behavior to that of Richard II, the former king whose crown Henry usurped: "The skipping King, he ambled up and down / With shallow jesters and rash bavin [burnt out] wits" (3.2.60-61). This is one of the few speeches that the very private King Henry makes to his son, and it exemplifies his understanding of what it means to be king. While Henry's successful usurpation of Richard's throne has traditionally been attributed to his powerful army of angry nobles and to his stellar planning, Shakespeare seems to suggest, as one of the unifying themes of Henry IV, that his successful rule partially depended on his ability to balance his private and public impulses.
Works Cited
Luna, J.J. How To Be Invisible. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essaySteiner, George. "The Writer and the State." New York Times. January 1986.
In The Waste Land, Eliot utilizes women as a window to show the dissolution and distortion of love and desire. Eliot creates a progression from invitation, to violation, to automation through the use of three distinct female characters: the hyacinth girl, Philomela, and the young typist. These women give the reader an understanding as to how the waste land came into existence. As the reader observes the shifting landscape, the women in the landscape gradually transform from youthful, pure girls into sterile, mechanical beings.
Get original essayThe erosion of intimacy is documented in these three crucial portions, showing a pre-corruption world, a tragic intermediary world, and the final product: the waste land. In these scenarios, Eliot’s women exhibit the weakness and suffering that is a necessary part of the human condition. However, the transformations from pure love to a pale imitation of love show them to be detrimental to the landscape of desire.
The foreshadowing of love’s dissolution begins with an invitation for the consummation of love in the hyacinth garden. This is portrayed through a glowing remembrance of purity associated with fertility and fulfillment:
‘You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
They called me the hyacinth girl.’
Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,
Looking into the heart of light, the silence. (Eliot 34-40)
The vibrancy and natural setting of this scene provide a sharp contrast to the seedier representations of love that appear later in the poem. The inaction of the narrator proves to foreshadow, not indicate, the dissolution of desire. Critic Cyrena Pondrom reads this scene as a specific entrance into the waste land itself: “In the agonizing light of the expectation of masculine dominance in literal physical and erotic connection, the speaker cannot connect in any abstract way” (Pondrom, 428).
Pondrom’s premature identification of this particular male impotence as “agonizing” leaves no room for memory of a world before the waste land, which seems to be the crucial point on which the first portion is comprised, and the following parts build. Neither, however, does it leave room for an intermediary phase. Even at the point of failure, it seems that the purity of love is still preserved. The male speaker’s nervousness and inability to act stem from love, the “heart of light” (Eliot 41). Because the recalling of this scene mixes the “memory and desire” of the beginning lines, it signifies the world before the fall (Eliot 2-3). However, the event in the hyacinth garden and failure of the male counterpart to accept the hyacinth girl’s offering portends the waste land to come.
The role of feminine suffering in The Waste Land displays the “violation” portion of the text: the intermediate scene in our progression towards the waste land. This violation is shown through the agonies of Philomel, whose rapist cut out her tongue so she could not speak his name:
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues,
‘Jug Jug’ to dirty ears. (Eliot 99-103)
Through the rape of Philomel, Eliot portrays the opposite of the nervous excitement and inaction displayed in the hyacinth garden. The assertion of desire becomes a desperate overcompensation of the previously failed male claim to power. The desire of the “heart of light” is replaced with a fulfillment “so rudely forced” (Eliot 41, 100).
The sexually willing yet virginal hyacinth girl is replaced with the violated, muted Philomel. Interestingly enough, Eliot does not acknowledge the latter half of Ovid’s recount, in which Philomel weaves a tapestry which tells the name of her rapist (McRae, 34). He instead weaves a version in which the nightingale’s mangled syllables are, after much difficulty, able to convey her rapist’s name: “Twit twit twit/Jug jug jug jug jug jug/So rudely forc’d. Tereu” (Eliot 204-207). This image of suffering and an inability to speak morbidly echoes the lost actions and unspoken words in the hyacinth garden. In this scenario, however, the masculine and feminine roles have been stained and violently distorted.
It is important to note that the roles in the two aforementioned scenarios still possess passion and struggle, which are obliterated in the mechanical world of the typist which Philomel’s story precedes. The mistreatment of women embodied by Philomel’s story gives way to the final destruction of love and desire. At this point, Eliot gives his poetic presence as an observer prominence by identifying himself as the blinded, dual-sexed Tiresias.
In this voice, Eliot presents his vision of how intimacy operates in a fully developed waste land. Tiresias gained his female parts as punishment for striking two copulating snakes. Eliot’s version of Tiresias is ironically forced by his agonizing prophetic powers to foretell the scene of sterile, deadened copulation between two characters in this ruined landscape. Through the character of Tiresias, Eliot justifies his prophetic abilities, and is able to express his agonized observations without risking poetic vulnerability. He states in his notes on The Waste Land that “the two sexes meet in Tiresias” (Eliot qtd. in Rainey, 105). The dual sexuality of Tiresias permits Eliot to shift from a male to a female voice, and justifies his ability to discern both perspectives:
At the violet hour, when the eyes and back
Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits,
I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives,
Old man with wrinkled female breasts, can see
At the violet hour… (Eliot 215-220, italics added)
Eliot employs imagery of machines and automatons in order to synchronize the death of love with the acceleration of industrialism. It is significant that the woman in this narrative is nameless, referred to only as “the typist home at teatime” (Eliot 222). She is directly identified only by her profession: a “human engine” (Eliot 216). Her body, deadened to external touch, only feels a pair of “exploring hands” in place of intimacy (Eliot 240). Her “young man carbuncular” is apathetic as to whether his actions are acknowledged or reciprocated. Philomel’s rape is eerily echoed when the young man “assaults at once” after a failed attempt to “engage her in caresses (Eliot, 239; 237).”
Eliot scholar Philip Sicker distinguishes the young typist from her female predecessors by her lack of sexual desire: “All pretense of genuine feeling has disappeared, and the typist, unlike her forerunners, does not appear even to possess a real sexual 'appetite'" (Sickler, 428). The “lovers” become two separate, mechanical entities. Even in her home, the typist is still an unfeeling automaton. Sickler asserts that the remnants of her sexuality lie “an unstimulated, almost unconscious prostitution in which the body alone participates, or half-participates” (Sickler, 428).
However, Sickler’s phrase, “unconscious prostitution in which the body alone participates” implies a deliberateness of the body which does not seem congruent with the poem itself. In light of Philomel's story, the scene echoes rape. The typist’s body, “bored and tired,” does not even attempt to engage in caresses. Her body feels nothing but a “pair of exploring hands.” Her mind, like Philomel’s pathetic attempts for clear speech, can muster nothing but “half-formed” thoughts. Paralleling this scene with halfhearted prostitution implies a certain amount of pragmatic willingness which she lacks.
However, where the resistance and agony of Philomela is implicit, the typist puts up no defense. The thoughts after the “rape” are only half-formed because to actually digest the events would evoke too much human emotion for this sterile, mechanical place. In the background, to underscore the mechanical note of this scene, the gramophone’s artificial music plays on: “She smoothes her hair with automatic hand, /And puts a record on the gramophone” (Eliot 249-256, italics added).
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayJust as Philomel’s broken tongue cannot utter the name of her rapist, the typist gives no complaint. As the hyacinths of the first scene symbolize fertility potential, the gramophone’s synthetic tune implies total stasis. In his personal annotations, Eliot states of the female characters in The Waste Land that “all the women are one woman” (Eliot, qtd. in Rainey 91). Upon dissection, these three scenes prove his assertion, and reveal an intricacy which connects three seemingly disparate women to the birth and death of intimacy between man and woman: a microcosm of the birth and death of a passionate, deliberate existence.
The environment in which we live has increasingly been inundated with several types of environmental toxicants which has the tendencies of causing injuries and metabolic stress to plants, animals and humans alike. Several industrial pollutants which includes unrefined petroleum and its allied products such as kerosene, flared gases, premium motor spirit, diesel, 3,1-dinitrobenzene or nonylphenol, methanoxyethanol, glycol ether and brake oils are known to exert testicular oxidative metabolic stress and atrophy. One significant danger of those who are exposed to environmental toxicants is the increased risk of being infertile which has been defined as the inability of a person or couple who is sexually active and a non user of contraceptive to achieve spontaneous pregnancy within one year (WHO, 2010; Zegers et al., 2009). Ample evidences from studies reveal that most male infertility problems are a result of testicular oxidative stress which has been reported to affect seminal plasma antioxidants increased lipid peroxidation (alteration of sperm morphology, impaired sperm motility.
Get original essayThe mechanistic defense against oxidative stress depends on the ability of the body and cells to boost the buffering capacities of antioxidants which will help in clearing of oxidative radicals generated from various metabolic processes especially when it relates with the clearance of toxicants. Today, Vernonia amygdalina which is a well known vegetable common to many tribes of Nigeria has been elucidated for its antioxidant buffering capacities. Vernonia amygdalina is well known for its use as an alternative regimen for malaria. It has been used severally as a protective and ameliorative agent for the deleterious effects of many toxicants such as cyanide, carbon tetrachloride, unrefined petroleum and cycasin.
From the foregoing, there is no doubt that there exist ample evidences on the ability of unrefined petroleum to induce various forms of metabolic oxidative stress, there exist little evidence on the possible role of unrefined oil intoxication to induce testicular damage occasioned by unrefined petroleum adulterated feeds as well as the ability of Vernonia amygdalina to induce the possible restoration or control of activated metabolic stress parameters. This study therefore was carried out to clearly show research evidences to cover these existing gaps.
Matured bitter leaf (Vernoniaamygdalina Del) was collected from a farm at Abraka, Nigeria and preliminary identification carried out at the Department of Botany, Delta state University, Abraka, Nigeria by Dr Erhenhi A. H. The leaf was later authenticated at the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Jericho Hill, Ibadan, Nigeria, were a specimen with the voucher number, F101963 was deposited at the herbarium. Male albino rats (Rattusnorvegicus), thirty six, an average weight of 150g-182g were acquired from the animal house at the Delta State University, Abraka Nigeria. The rats were accommodated in a wooden cage and allowed to acclimatize for one week on grower’s mash (a product of Rainbow Feed Limited). The composition of the feed as declared by the manufacturer was previously published by Achuba (2018). All other reagents used for biochemical assay were of analytical grades.
The bitter leaf was washed, chopped and air dried at room temperature for one week in an open space within the laboratory of the Department of Biochemistry, Delta State University, Abraka. After drying, the bitter leaf was chopped off and macerated using a warren blender to a smooth dry powder. The bitter leaf extract was prepared using methanol as described by Yin et al. (2013). One hundred (100g) of the powdered leaf was dissolved in 400ml of methanol through sonication for 10mins, then filtered with Whatman No.1 using vacuum pump. The extract obtained concentrated via rotary evaporator at 40-50? under reduced pressure to get the bitter leaf methanol extract (BLME). The extract was stored at - 8? until required.
The distribution of six rats per group was done according to the following description:
Group A = Feed
Group B = Feed +100 mgkg-1body weight of BLME
Group C = Feed+200 mgkg-1body weight of BLME
Group D = Feed (100g Feed+4ml unrefined Oil)
Group E =Feed (100g Feed+4ml unrefined Oil) +100 mgkg-1body weight of BLME
Group F= Feed (100g Feed+4ml unrefined Oil) +200 mgkg-1body weight of BLME
The bitter leaf extract used was freshly prepared at the point of administration. To obtain to obtain 200 mgml-1 20 gram of the extract was dissolved in 100 ml of distilled water out of which aliquots of the freshly dissolved extract was administered by gavage according to the rats body weight once daily. The rats in groups A and D were not administered the extracts while all rats were allowed free access to water. All the treatments lasted for a period of 30 days
After 30 days exposure period, the rats were sacrificed via cervical decapitation on the 31st day after an overnight fasting. The testes were collected into pre-chilled labelled containers. Testes wet tissue (0.5g) was homogenized with 9.0 mL of normal saline using pre-chilled mortar and pestle and the supernatant obtained was stored at -8C in the cold room and used for biochemical analysis within 48 hours.
Standard methods were employed for the assay of level of lipid peroxidation (MDA) (Gutteridge and Wilkins, 1982) and enzymatic oxidative stress markers as follows; aldehyde oxidase (AO) (Omarov et al. 1998), sulphite oxidase (Macleod et al. 1961); monoamine oxidase (MO) and xanthine oxidase (XO) (McEwen, 1971). Assay for the non-enzymatic antioxidant profile in the testes were determined using the methods of Ellman (1959) for assay of reduced gluthathione while Assay for vitamin C employed the methods reported by Achuba (2008). Assay for specific activities of enzymatic antioxidants were carried out employing the methods of Misra and Fredorich (1972) for superoxide dismutase (SOD), Cohen et al., (1972) for Catalase, Habig et al. (1974) for gluthatione-s-transferases (GSTs) and Khan et al. (2009) for glutathione peroxidase (GPx).
A known portion of the testes, of each rat were harvested and fixed in 10% formol saline for 48hours and processed for paraffin wax embedding with an automatic tissue processor by dehydrating through 70%, 90%, 95% and two changes of absolute ethanol for 90 minutes each. Clearing was achieved through two changes of xylene for 2 hours each; and infiltrating with two changes of paraffin wax for 2 hours. Sections were cut at 5?m with a rotary microtome. The sections were stained by haematoxylin and eosin (H and E) using the method of Odoulaet al. (2009), examined and photographed using a light microscope.
Analysis of data was carried out using the single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17 (SPSS 17). Post hoc analysis (comparisons across Groups) was done using Bonferroni at P <0.05 level of significance.
Result presented revealed a significant rise in lipid peroxidation (MDA) levels in rats administered both doses of BLME without tainted diets (B and C) relative to positive control (A) which was fed normal diets. This did not differ significantly with rat fed tainted diets without treatment ( groups D) and rats fed tainted diets and administered both doses of the BLME( groups E and F). Feeding rats with unrefined oil tainted diets. Also, there were observed increase in the activities of AO, SO, MO and XO of rats administered both doses of BLME in groups B and C relative to rat fed with untreated feed (group A) but significant reduction relative to rats fed with unrefined petroleum tainted feed (group D). Administration of both doses of BLME to rats fed with unrefined petroleum tainted feed (groups E and F) significantly increased the activities of the oxidases (AO, SO, MO and XO) relative to the rat fed with untreated feed (group A) and rats fed with unrefined petroleum tainted feed (group D). However there were no significant difference in groups E and F when relative together
As shown, the activities of CuZnSOD did not significantly increase in rats administered 100mgKg-1 body weight of BLME (group B) relative to normal control group A fed with only normal diets. It however significantly increased in rats administered 200mgKg-1 body weight relative to control. Also, the CuZnSOD activities in rats administered both doses were significantly higher than in the rats administered petroleum tainted diets without treatment and those fed tainted diets and treated with both doses of BLME. Rats fed with only tainted diets were observed to have reduced CuZnSOD activities relative to normal control but significantly increased relative to those fed tainted diets and treated with 200mgKg-1 body weight. The activities of MnSOD did not change in rats in groups A and B but increased significantly when rats in group C and group A are relative. The activities of MnSOD significantly reduced in rats fed with tainted diets in group D relative to normal control and rats fed normal diets and treated with both doses of BLME in groups B and C. Treatment of rats fed tainted diets with 100mgKg-1 and 200mgKg-1 of BLME showed no significant difference relative to the untreated rats in group D. Total SOD activities showed no significant difference across groups A-E but significantly reduced in group F which was exposed to tainted diets and treated with 200mgKg-1 of BLME relative to groups A-D.
Results presented reveal that there were no significant change in levels of Vitamin C across all groups. GSH levels were observed to have no significant change in rats administered 100mgKg-1 and 200mgKg-1 body weight of BLME (B and C) relative to normal control group A but significantly increased relative to rats fed petroleum polluted diets. Administration of 100MgKg-1 body weight of BLME increased significantly GSH levels relative to those fed only tainted diets but reduced relative to normal control (group A). Those fed polluted diets and administered 200mgKg-1 body weight of BLME (group E) remained unchanged relative to group D but reduced relative to all other groups. The activity of the antioxidant enzyme catalase was significantly elevated in rats treated with 100mgKg-1 body weight but not with 200mgKg-1 relative to control group A. This was however increased significantly for both doses relative to rats in group D fed tainted diets without treatment. treatment with both doses led to a further reduction in catalase activities relative to groups A and D. GPX and GSTs activities were observed to have no significant change for rats treated with 100mgKg-1 body weight without contamination relative to control (group A) and reduced significantly for GPX while increasing for GSTs relative to rats fed only polluted diets (group D). Treatment with both doses of BLME significantly reduced in GSTS activities relative to the control group A while GPx activities were only significantly reduced for the 200mgKg-1 body weight dose. Relative to group D however, it was observed that GSTs activities remained significantly unchanged both doses (100mgKg-1 and 200mgKg-1) body weight. GPx on the other hand reduced significantly for both doses.
Contamination of unrefined petroleum has remained a significant contributor to several endocrine induced metabolic stress and malfunction. Testicular oxidative stress on the other hand is said to be responsible for a majority of the many cases of infertility world over. The result presented in this study revealed increased levels of MDA and the activities of the oxidative enzymes (AO, SO, MO and XO) in the testes of rats fed tainted diets relative to normal control. Rise in MDA levels have been increasingly reported as a potent marker for the negative effects of consuming unrefined petroleum diets and other unrefined oil allied exposures. Petroleum induced rise in peroxidation of tissues are said to go concurrently with eventual rise in oxidative enzymes which are needed to initiate eventual clearance of the peroxides and super oxides generated by petroleum contamination.
It is important to state that based on the physiological position and nature of the testes, it is said to be highly vulnerable to toxins hence there exist an inbuilt enhanced antioxidant buffering due to the presence of non enzymatic antioxidants (vitamins such as vitamin C, vitamin E and GSH) and the enzymatic antioxidants (SOD, GST, GPX and catalase). Therefore, for oxidative damage to occur, there must be evidence based overwhelming of the antioxidant defence capacities of the tissues and biological membranes involved. The observed induction of lipid peroxidation and the oxidative enzymes in the testes of rats fed petroleum polluted diets without treatment with BLME are in concordance with the observed reduced levels of the antioxidant defensive markers SOD and Catalase, GPx, GSTs, GSH and Vitamin C. These observations are similar to earlier observations made by Achuba et al., (2016); Achuba (2018a) and Ita et al. (2018). The administration of BLME to these rats was not able to reverse to a comparable status the levels of these non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants relative to the control which was not fed with petroleum tainted diets. These observations are not in line with earlier submissions made by Ita et al, (2018) , Achuba, (2018) and Okpoghono et al., (2018) who reported the abilities of Ageratum conyzoides, Vernonia amygdalina and Monodura myristica to successfully mitigate the rising metabolic stress in the testis, kidney and liver of rats fed petroleum tainted diets respectively. This observed trend thus indicates the inability of the BLME to control the oxidative and metabolic balance of the testes in the presence of petroleum hydrocarbons.
Also, this study observed a concomitant rise in testicular lipid peroxidation, the antioxidant defence, and the activities of the oxidative enzymes in rats administered 100 mgKg-1 body weight and 200 mgKg-1 body weight of the BLME without exposure to unrefined oil polluted diets. This observation also further substantiates the earlier claim of the possible noxious effects of Vernonia amygdalina on the testes which has been previously implicated to have a possible anti spermatogenic effect and reduction in testosterone levels, sperm motility and sperm count, seminiferous tubular diameter, cross sectional area, numerical densities of seminiferous tubules, number of profiles per unit area and increased toxicological profile of the testes. The possible justification of this observation may be likened to adverse drug reactions and interactions that occur during drug and xenobiotic metabolism (Barnerjee et al., 2016; Gandhi et al., 2012). This assertion is claimed because there are ample research evidences that submits that in the course of drug and xenobiotic biotransformation, that certain enzymes such as the lipoxygenases, cyclooxygenase and the oxidases have the capacities of developing oxidative radicals which in turn contributes to the pool of ROS present in the tissues that eventually shuts down their antioxidant defence systems by the depletion of these enzymes and other antioxidant enzymes.
There is no doubt that findings in this study indicate testicular hypertrophy and autophagy in the rats. The observed distortion in testicular architecture are similar to those reported by Salau et al., (2013) and Oyedeji et al., (2013) thus substantiating further the possible contribution of Vernonia amygdalina to all the observed metabolic stress reported in this study.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayThis study has shown that the consumption of petroleum tainted diets contributed to the induction of testicular metabolic stress in experimental rats. However, treatment with Vernonia amygdalina methanolic extracts could not reverse the observed metabolic stress but contributed to the increasing levels of metabolic stress in the testes and the alteration of the testicular ultrastructure. This thus gives an insight into the possible toxic effect of Vernonia amygdalina on the ability to induce infertility in males. Based on this therefore, it is submitted that there is need for further research to understand the possible mechanism and molecular bases for the observed alteration of theses metabolic stress in the testis owing to the proven records of the antioxidant buffering capacity of Vernonia amygdalina in other tissues.
Firstly it is crucial to give a brief introduction to the interviewees, Teacher X1 is a teachers in charge of blind and deaf and has an experience in teaching special needs children. Teachers X2 is teacher who teach in HVP Gatara Ndera with more than 2years of experience in this job of teaching children with disability. Teacher X3 has much training and has participate in different training regarding special need education. Student Y1 is a blind student who is in P5 and student Y2 is a student with leg impairment in P4.
Get original essayBy considering the matter of special needs of learners with impairment, the gathered information showed that learners with impairment have to be encouraged and helped to easily access all facilities that are provided, in addition the research showed that school book do not facilitate those students in learning according to teacher X1 the syllabus should be modified to help those student to learn collectedly as others and those available are still few compare to number of students available, teacher X1 added that those students need both teachers and parents motivation to fight the problems of coming to school. While Teachers X2 and X3 said that in order to fully involve in education of children with impairment the ministry in charge of education needs to increase the number of teaching materials and revision of student syllabus to reflect the system to education students with disability.
Student Y1 said that the materials that they use in reading are not enough and even teachers due to lack of training they sometimes teach blind as others students they sometimes forget that we don’t see. however teacher try their best by treating us correctly as their child advising us to be confidents they even take huge part than our parents in our developments.
According to student Y2 even though they are badly treated by the society teachers help them overcome those harassment teaching them to be confident and added that if it were not the teachers some of our colleague should have been left the classes.
How do these teachers describe challenges they face in providing special education for children with disabilities in their working place?
Not only the teachers, schools are meet with the challenges in education of learners with disability but also the government, counterfeit with many challenges for example according to teacher X1 said that students are not concreted in classes they are not comfortable due to put design of the classroom with cause the external annoyement when read reading, others are not able to step up the stairs while entering in the classroom.
Teacher X2 said that it is difficult to manage students with low concentration, poor confident that comes from community treatment, in addition many teachers who are teaching special needs students are regular teachers and need enough training to have much skills to handle students with disability. Teacher X3 said that it is true the challenges are too many some student have mental retardation which means need more skills to manage them for their ages to not meet with their learning level so trainings to teachers are highly needed, also materials are not readily available.
Analyzing the given information of both student and teachers the studying areas , like school disposition and design, playing grounds and others social schemes take an important part in learning of students with impairment, the design of physical infrastructures like chairs , accessible classes and other buildings, transportation facilities, learning materials are needed to overcome the mentioned challenges. Also the teachers highlight the poor teaching materials and financial constraints as challenges.
Are those challenges difficult to overcome? Tell me a typical challenging situation?
The interviewees said that they meet diversity of challenges when teaching learners with disability, some difficulties are hard to manage teachers X1 shared an experience of the challenge met in teaching saying that some students with mental disability tend to engage into fight and it is sometimes difficult to stop some are very eager and very angry due external treatment which made them to be cruel and society fighters, other are engaged in sexual activities.
According to teacher X2 and X3 they present challenges that some learners escape classes and go outside school while they are not able to explain themselves and went in the area sometimes they do not know, and it is a great tasks for teachers to look forward to those students and teachers are responsible for them means that whatever happen to them teachers are responsible.
Teachers X2 said that some students do not even know how toileting and do this everywhere they want, some went sick but they cannot communicate and it is for teachers to guess and know is going on with the child.
Teachers X3 added that challenges are presented every day of their work for example some learners may have more than one kind of disability however child’s parent sometimes do not know about this case it is for teacher to discover this matter of question.
What do you do to resolve those challenges?
Accord to Teacher X1 overcoming these challenges need more trained and skilled teachers as the teachers of regular students, also the students with especial needs have to be followed regularly unfortunately the ratio of teacher to student is still low where one teacher can follow six students which is not fair. This is due to less number of teachers and few classes. Teacher X2 had a different understand instead the development of positive understanding to learners with impairment and teaching the community to their role and responsibilities to those students with disability is a great pillar in overcoming many challenges that are observed in teaching children with disability.
Teacher X3 agreed with both by emphasizing their opinion and added that the government need to review the curriculum of learners with disability.
Looking on the answers to the asked questions having the skilled and trained teachers will enable the education of children with disability to develop however this is not enough, some teachers found to teach students of different disability in same classes it is a challenge to fight for especially for government entity in charge of especial need education. Also renewing the design principles of social and public infrastructures. In addition parents need to take part in education of their students teachers are not enough to take care of those children, the government need to sensitize in the society that children with disabilities are as the others and need to be respected, by rising their autonomy, confidents that they are able to perform the tasks themselves.
Teacher X1 says that as the ministry has started by introducing as department of special needs education in university of Rwanda those university student have to be trained correctly and perform enough practice to meet with those children, therefore introduce the school of inclusive and special needs education is a pillar toward the success of learning of students with disabilities however more effort are still needed.
Teacher X2 and X3 had the same understanding but added that also the current teachers have to be trained, in addition ministry of education need to provide efficient and effective materials like braille and wheel chairs the schools also increase the number of schools fro in some many rural area there many children with disability who are struggling, they cannot get school to stud in, so more schools are needed to overcome this situation.
Which support do you need to effectively involve in learning of students with disability?
Teacher X1 suggested that teachers need staff motivation in order to change their attitudes toward the students they taught, special needs education teachers need special salary which will upgrade the motivation in their daily duties of following the children with disabilities with their whole heart. Teacher X2 emphasizing the suggestion of teacher X1 added that teachers alone are not enough there should be the parents and community supports. Teachers X3 saw things in other perspectives where ministry in charge of education have renew the school infrastructures for teachers need to access the full attention of student the outside disturbance hind the connection of teach with students so for teachers to fully involve in development of student with disability, adequate teaching materials , adequate infrastructures are needed.
The government have to settle an effective and understandable program to ensure the parents and teachers participate in the development of students with disability, training should be improved, and the supplier of necessary materials. Teachers need motivation to help them and encourage them to work harder.in addition follow up of education system of children with impairment will support in having proper information of the step made, children with disability need to be treated equally as other children in other to achieve successful education of children with disability
The action of analyzing was based on the interview answers relatively to the reviewed literature, in many countries even the developed ones children with disability are maltreated in society, therefore teachers needs to help them to be confidents and rise they self-autonomy in community even though teachers need to be involved the development of those students a different number of challenges have been presented by the respondents throughout the interview conducted. Briefly those challenges are summarized below.
Most of the interviewees point on the materials to use when teaching children with disabilities saying that those material are not sufficient and some are very traditional, the research showed that this is associated with financial problem and insufficient budget given to the special education program. By comparing with regular schools they have adequate materials compare to special needs classes. That why the respondents suggest to the government entity in charge of education to improve the materials used in special needs schools and rise the budget of these schools.
The study showed that at least one teacher follow minimum of six students this numbers is every large compare to the needs of one student. This is due to less number of special needs teachers even some of the teachers did not follow special education but only small and insufficient trainings. Here in Rwanda only one university has a school of special need education program this cannot provide enough teachers. The quality of some current teachers are hesitated for many of them are those regular teachers took short training engage themselves in especial needs teaching. That why the respondents propose the governments to increase trainings in specials needs teachers and increasing of schools of special needs education.
Other factor presented is insufficient classrooms and poor learning area, some of class are poorly constructed with no ceiling boards, poor desk design. Some school still have stair which do not allow children with disability to step up or hind the access of wheel chairs
During these research it have found that some people deny learners with disability some are harassed in their families and rejected by their parents, these affects the effectiveness of learning with disability, even make harder for the teacher to fully involve in the development of students with disability. Hence sensitizing and protecting the rights of those children is needed in all government institutions.
Special needs teachers claim to do the most difficult job in teaching, they need extra patient in teaching student with disability for there are children who are more difficult to handle which teach have to do. So motivation is important and enough salary, they all put this blame to government.
In short words the research showed that teachers have to fully involve in the learning of children with disability how by conducting interview the teachers themselves presented the numerous numbers of challenges that they cross when teaching students with disability many of those challenges are a society with lack of trainings, poor infrastructures, in adequate teaching facilities like teaching materials for examples braille. Also the outside community maltreated the children with disability and some loose the confidence in society which make difficult to teachers to teach them for even some neglect themselves due society harassments. Lastly teachers claim to get poor salary compare to the tasks they have to perform and this lead to poor motivation hence bad results in teaching those students so the government entity in charge need to look on this issue.
Though this research it has found that teachers of special needs education schools undergo diversity of challenges some due students who are difficult to manage, others due to communities and parents who do not take part in education of those students and others from government entity in charge of special needs education who do not take into consideration of some factors like schools and materials in particularity of specials needs children. Therefore according to teachers as expressed in this research proper class design, modern teaching materials, more training, rising of many specials needs schools for rural areas, motivations and preparation of special needs education teachers are needed.
Many teachers feel unconfident in teaching the children with disability for they are not well trained or attained a university program for special needs education and that why they needs more trainings to rise up their skills and confidence.
Most of the special needs teachers serve high number of students which barrier them to make proper follow up of everyone, these students needs high attention in teaching that is why there are in special education program, teach have to accommodate less number of student in order to know the progression of each child.
After analyzing the results from this research it has found that qualified teachers are needed to involve in the development of learners with impairment however many challenges have been found and for wellbeing of teachers together with children with disability overcoming those challenges is necessary below are the out coming recommendations
For the teachers have a meaningful impacts on development of students with disability trainings are important. The government authority in charges should search for the professional in special needs education to train teachers. By giving them the standard guidelines to the management of children with disability.
Teaching materials take a great role in education of learners with disability so the government entity in charge of curriculum development and evaluation have to provide sufficient materials for specials needs , enough resources and teaching facilities
Only one school of special needs education is presented in in University this will still lead to low number of qualified teachers so the government can look on how to increase the number of school with special needs education program for more the available teachers are those attended the short courses and come up with low knowledge and skills.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayThis is not the end of research there is many issues that need to be investigated to clearly help the children with disability to develop ,further research should include how community should intervene in the education of children with disability by taking them as others children, and this research should involve both teachers, officials and both private and public sectors. The quantitative research will be necessary to get the real numbers of children who are following the special needs education and those who are not able to follow the program and identify the potential reasons.
Electric propulsion has taken over the chemical propulsion system in space travel due to its high efficiency with less amount of propellent. We are all aware that Xenon is used as a propellent for the plasma thrusters. This article mainly deals with discussing an alternate propellent for Xenon which in this case is iodine, the potential advantages of iodine as a propellent to the hall thrusters replacing xenon is discussed. It includes a brief discussion of Hall thrusters, Iodine propellent properties, Iodine test histories, test procedures, High power test results and applications of iodine as propellent.
Get original essayThe hall thruster consists of an anode which also acts as a gas distributer and an external cathode. The electrons from the cathode will drift towards anode and creates an axial electric field and a radial magnetic field is created with the help of the outer magnetic coil. This radial magnetic field and axial electric field, causes some of the electrons from the cathode to whirl along the magnetic field and produce hall current. The gas atoms from the anode hits these electrons and gets ionized and are accelerated due to the electromagnetic field. The hall thrusters are capable of producing a thrust between 10 and 80 km/s. Hall thrusters was first developed and used by USSR in their meteor spacecraft in 1971 and the specific impulses within the range (1000- 2000) s (iepc). The first American HET to ?y in space was the Busek BHT-200. BHT- 200 was also the first reported HET to use iodine as a propellent.
The preferred propellant of Hall thrusters is xenon. Xenon has an atomic mass of 131.3 amu and an ionization potential of 12.13 eV. The main disadvantage of xenon is that that it is a rare gas found in nature, which increases the cost for its production at a very high rate. Due to this factor, the hunt for alternative propellent in hall thrusters had started. Krypton with an atomic mass of 83.8 amu and an ionization potential of 14.0 eV, is cheaper. But performance was found to be low due to higher ionization potential. The next choice of nobel gas was Argon but, it’s ioinization potential (15.8 eV) was greater than Krypton. Radon was not considered as it is a radio-active element. Heavy metals could have been a better choice but due to the fact that metals could short-circuit the electrical insulators in the thrusters this is also discarded. Meanwhile, iodine is found abundantly in nature when compared to Xenon, hence available at low cost. It is thus worth examining iodine more closely as a potential propellant for Hall thrusters.
The table compares the properties of iodine and Xenon. It is seen that Iodine is lighter than Xenon which makes the electron impact ionization larger but as seen earlier, the ionization potential is less when compares with Xenon. Xe must be stored in high pressure tanks or at cryogenic conditions. I2 stores in the solid phase at approximately three times the density of Xe. The pressure of the I2 reservoir may be 1000 times lower than the pressure in a Xe tank. I2 vapor is generated by heating the solid to a modest temperature, e.g. 80 - 100 degrees C. The temperature of the I2 flow path and gas distributor must be slightly higher to prevent the formation of condensed phases. However, the anode gas distributor does not have to be heated during ordinary thruster operation. Because I2 stores as a low pressure solid, the reservoir may be irregular in shape, conforming to available space. The propellant inside may even be used to shield electronics. A filled reservoir may in theory be stored for long periods of time in unregulated conditions on the shelf or in orbit.
In comparison with Xe, the vapor pressure of I2 is extremely low, e.g. 1.2x10-6Torr at T =-75oC. This makes iodine much easier to pump inside a test facility. This, in turn, means lower background pressure and less test uncertainty. High power testing becomes feasible in facilities that would be completely inadequate for Xe. I2 is also comparatively low cost. I2 at 99.99+ purity, demonstrated with the BHT-8000 (this paper), is several times cheaper than xenon. This is significant for high throughput missions. The only significant disadvantage to iodine is its reactivity, though this may be addressed though materials selection. Safety precautions are not onerous.